The Millstone
by luxe ascetic
Summary: In Las Noches, Orihime ponders her insuperable paralysis in battle and fears for the fate of her friends. Ulquiorra observes her and protects her on the periphery, for Aizen-sama. Unconsciously, he also does so for himself.


**~Author's Note – Essential to Understanding this Fanfiction~**

This story takes place just after the infamous "slap scene" between Orihime and Ulquiorra in episode 159 of the anime.

* * *

><p>The sickle moon cast its spell in a shallow pool of tired white light beneath her feet. She had slept all day. Or had she? The moon, fixed in its post like any good sentinel, never left her cell's window. She had no sense of time here, not even that attuned to thirst and hunger, since those had all but deserted her.<p>

Her possessions constituted a Spartan state of affairs, not that that bothered her: a surprisingly comfortable couch, a toilet. She slept on the couch and did little else. Meantime, Ulquiorra Cifer, as fixed and invariable as the Las Noches moon, brought food to her cell and expected her to eat it. She did so, with difficulty, and he returned to take her utensils and subject her to the glower of his luminous green eyes.

Of late, he was not as chatty as he had been prior to the supposed death of her friend Sado. He merely watched her hand him her plate and fork and departed. So much the better.

She was the millstone. She hung around the necks of her friends, and this time, she would pull them under the sea of chaos and there would be no coming up for air. She pondered escape – but how? There were no bars on her window. Aizen knew she would be easily overcome by the Arrancar. She considered suicide – she could just ask Tsubaki to slice through her with Koten Zanshun – but she knew her power was important to her friends and to Soul Society, and that if they could rescue her, she might be able to heal those who needed it and even bring back some of the dead. Besides, if she committed suicide, her friends would still try to rescue her, even if they were told by Aizen what she had done. They had no reason to believe him. And for them to come and find that she had killed herself would be to destroy their will to fight, if they were pursued by the Arrancar as they fled. So she had languished in her cell, tormented by the thought of her imperiled nakama, until Ulquiorra had informed her of Sado's supposed death.

She would not believe it, could not, for both selfish and objective reasons. They could not die because of her, that would be too much to bear. And they had come so far, surmounted so many obstacles, surely they could endure this one. Her slap of Ulquiorra's stony, Hierro-clad cheek had been a strange amalgam of bitter self-loathing and iron-clad faith in her friends. Girded with this amalgam, she had overcome the shock and horror that had lingered since her departure from Karakura Town. It had been of no consequence to the Arrancar, but of course, it had been of great consequence to her. She was, as any normal person would be, afraid of what her captors would ultimately do with her. But for now, she knew they would not harm her. They needed her skills.

"I'm coming in."

It was Ulquiorra again, this time to take her for her daily, hour-long stroll around Las Noches. She wondered why he bothered announcing his presence. She had assumed that his sudden appearance in her doorway last time had been a keen pleasure for him, given that all Arrancars seemed to take pleasure in things such as frightening others at every opportunity. So why should he announce his presence now? It seemed that, despite her slapping him, he would still refrain from barging into her room and scaring the living daylights out of her.

Moreover, she wondered why he bothered to take her for these walks – in the course of her healing duties around Las Noches, she walked around enough to keep herself in adequate physical condition. Yet he insisted on walking her alongside the uppermost parapet of the fortress every day, around what she took to be midday, based on her meal schedule.

"Is it time for a walk?"

"Yes, onna."

So she rose from her couch and followed him out.

* * *

><p>Having been in Las Noches for some time now, she had unconsciously begun to admire its desolate beauty. She had been checking herself every time she caught herself in the act, but she had gotten to a point where if she did not give in to the admiration, she would find herself dwelling on her self-loathing or her fear for her friends. So give in she did, for she could not bear such thoughts for so long.<p>

Gazing at its silent dunes from the parapet, she thought of how much it resembled the surface of the moon. For all she knew, it could be the moon. Or maybe they were on the surface of some celestial ocean, a reflection of the pale sentinel that shone, unflagging, upon her cell floor. Floating on a sea of chaos, and she, the millstone, was dragging her friends into it.

"Do you like this particular view?" she asked Ulquiorra as she rested her arms on the edge of the parapet. Why did she ask him this? This had to be the first time she had spoken to him on one of their walks. It was her emotional weakness that did it – she was dwelling on her self-loathing and fear for her friends again, and her reflex in such situations was to talk with someone about something completely unrelated. Ulquiorra was there, so she was talking to him. No harm in that, right?

Unsurprisingly, he merely glanced at her. But it was one of those perplexing looks that he had started to give her whenever she said something to him. The first time he had done this had been when she slapped him. His eyes slid over her face slowly, boring into her. Then, just as slowly, he looked away.

She doubted he would say anything to her, but she nevertheless persisted in her one-sided conversation.

"I didn't like it at first, but it's actually rather lovely. Quiet. Not like Karakura Town at all. Karakura Town is lovely, too, of course. Lovelier! But this is still nice." He wasn't even looking at her. She continued. "I do wish there were some noise, though. Maybe just some wind to move the dunes around. I've always loved the sound of wind whistling at night. It's like it has some secret happiness, one that it's carried with it all day, and it only shares that secret with you at night, when all the other sounds have fallen away. Of course, you'd need trees for that, but –"

"Well, if it isn't Pet-sama and her master! Enjoying the view?" It was Nnoitra. Orihime had seen him during her daily rounds, but she never ceased to be terrified of him. His eyes seemed fixed in a permanent leer and his lip curled to expose pearly, deceptively innocent rows of teeth she could just imagine him running his tongue over prior to licking his chops. He began sidling up to her.

But before she could even think of edging away from him down the parapet, Ulquiorra appeared in front of her, between Nnoitra and herself. What impossible speed! There had been a deep, staticy sound, and he had materialized at her side. Her ears popped, as if the air had been decompressed.

"Hey, take it easy, Ulquiorra! No need to use Sonído. I'm just a fellow admirer."

"Shut up, trash. And leave if you have no real business here."

"Oho, this is delightful. I've been watching you take Pet-sama for her walkies for some time now. Your attachment is delicious to ogle at."

"I've been aware of your skulking from the moment you started it, Nnoitra. I don't mind your unwanted presence, however despicable, so long as you keep your distance. I told you to leave. Do so. Now."

"Fine, fine. As long as I know I can continue my skulking." He grinned, and the glint of the moon was all that Orihime could see of his features, silhouetted as he was against the parapet. His towering, wraithlike form chilled her to the marrow. He left, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Wordlessly, Ulquiorra turned on his heel and continued on down the side of the parapet. Their walk had been cut short.

* * *

><p>Ulquiorra returned Orihime to her cell and headed for his quarters. Before turning in for the night, he looked out over the parapet once more and wondered what wind sounded like.<p> 


End file.
